SIOUX CITY | The search for a new president at Briar Cliff University has been narrowed to an executive currently overseeing the Sioux City school and academic leaders at private colleges in Wisconsin and Montana.

"Finalists for the position were on campus this week to tour Briar Cliff’s campus and to meet with our students, faculty, staff and other constituents," Heying said. "We look forward to naming a new president who supports Briar Cliff’s Franciscan values and mission to remain a top choice for academic excellence,"

Sister Kate Katoski, chair of Briar Cliff University’s Board of Trustees, has said she expects a new president to be selected early next year.

Hamid "Ham" Shirvani announced his resignation as president in July, after 14 months on the job. Shirvani's contract runs through the end of the fall semester, but Karstens, who served as Shirvani's chief of staff, has handled day-to-day duties of the president's office since then.

Karstens was hired as Shirvani's chief of staff and the college's top legal counsel earlier this year. She as more than 20 years of experience as a practicing attorney, as well as administrative experience in higher education. Prior to coming to Briar Cliff, she served as executive director of philanthropy and alumni relations at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa; and served as the director of planned giving for the University of Iowa Foundation. She also practiced for 16 years as an attorney with Johnson Law Firm, P.C., in Montezuma, Iowa.

Knothe has served at Viterbo University for since 13 years, starting at dean of the Dahl College of Business in July 2004, according to his personal Linkedin page. He has held his current title as dean of business and leadership since August 2015. He earned an undergraduate degree in business administration from Viterbo in 1986 and a law degree from the Willamette University College of Law in 1989, according to his Linkedin page.

Like Briar Cliff, Vitterbo is a private liberal arts college and one of only 24 Catholic Franciscan universities in the United States. Vitterbo was founded in 1890.

Detailed biographical information on Timothy Laurent was not immediately available Friday. The University of Providence is a private Catholic school founded in 1932.

Shirvani, a controversial figure who has drawn both praise and criticism for his management style during two decades as a college administrator in North Dakota and California, was introduced in April 2016 as the 10th president of Briar Cliff, which was founded as a Catholic college for women and began admitting men in the late 1960s.

During his brief stint with the college, Shirvani drew criticism for some of the changes he began to implement. A number of longtime faculty and staff also departed the college.

Shirvani succeeded Bev Wharton, who led Briar Cliff for 15 years, the longest tenure in its 85-year history.

Local

Spunky Samantha is this year's Little Yellow Dog

Ian Richardson
/ IAN RICHARDSON
irichardson@siouxcityjournal.com

12.02.17

Tim Hynds, Sioux City Journal

Samantha, a four-month-old Maltese, is the 2017 Goodfellows
charity's Little Yellow Dog. Samantha, who will grow to weigh
about six pounds, is shown Friday, Dec. 1, 2017, in the offices of
the Sioux City Journal. The Journal's Goodfellows fund began in
1914 to provide Christmas toys to needy children and expanded in
1936 to include the auction of a puppy.

SIOUX CITY | Small, affectionate and full of pep, this year’s Little Yellow Dog will bring her spunky spirit to the home of the highest bidder at next Saturday's annual auction.

Samantha, a four-month-old Maltese, will find her new home Dec. 9 at the 82nd annual Little Yellow Dog Auction in the atrium of the Ho-Chunk Centre.

Bader

"She is very playful and she is fearless," said Dr. Michelle Bader, kennel master for the Ancient and Effervescent Order of the Little Yellow Dog and veterinarian at Family Pet Hospital in Sioux City. "I brought her home (Wednesday), and she wanted to play with my dogs right away. She was playing with my cats."

Dr. Michelle Bader from Family Pet Hospital introduces Samantha, this year's Little Yellow Dog. Sammy will be auctioned on Saturday, Dec. 9 at the Ho-Chunk Atrium to benefit the Journal's Goodfellow Charities.

Proceeds from the auction, sponsored by the Ancient and Effervescent Order of the Little Yellow Dog, a local civic group, will benefit the Journal’s Mr. Goodfellow Charity, a tradition that provides gifts and books to 8,000 underprivileged area children at Christmastime.

The Journal's Goodfellows fund began in 1914 to provide Christmas toys to needy children and expanded in 1936 to include the auction of a puppy.

Samantha was donated by Powell Broadcasting, the Louisiana-based company that owns KSCJ radio and a group of other local stations.

Dennis Bullock, general manager for KSCJ, said the organization wanted to do something more for the community as part of a celebration of KSCJ's 90th year of broadcasting.

Bullock

"To give back a little to the community, we decided to purchase the dog," he said, thanking another donor for stepping aside to let them contribute during their anniversary year.

Bullock said the puppy's name, Samantha, is a tribute to the late Sam Seldon, a longtime engineer and historian at KSCJ who was heavily involved in the Yellow Dog auction each year and with KSCJ's broadcasts of the auction.

"He was very dedicated to the Yellow Dog, was just a good man," Bullock said. "We love Sam and thought since this was our 90th year, we'd honor him."

Samantha is the second Maltese in a row to be named Little Yellow Dog. Last year's pup, Aspen, sold for $16,000 to an anonymous buyer last year.

"I think (Samantha's) actually a bit more outgoing than Aspen," Bader said. "She will give anybody and everybody kisses. She's a very affectionate and loving dog."

Currently around 2 pounds, Bader said Samantha will weigh about 6-7 pounds when she's fully grown.

A look back at the Little Yellow Dogs from 1936 including breed information, who purchased and the price paid at the annual auction.

Gerard Keating, CEO of Keating Resources, which has offices in
Atkinson, Nebraska and Naples, Florida, has agreed to purchase the
former Gateway campus in North Sioux City, above, for $5.75
million.

Keating

NORTH SIOUX CITY | A major real estate investment firm with ties to northeast Nebraska has agreed to purchase the former Gateway campus in North Sioux City.

Keating Resources CEO Gerard Keating said Friday the deal will lead to “significant investment” by some local companies who will purchase portions of the campus, which covers seven acres and more than 750,000 square feet of space. Terms of the deal will be released after the sale's scheduled closing on Jan. 10, he said.

“I’m really excited to build upon the great success that Ted and Norm (Waitt) had in the building, which gave me confidence to make the investment,” Keating said of the Waitt brothers, who built Gateway into one of the nation’s largest makers of personal computers.

“My family has done business in the greater Siouxland market for five generations and I’m excited to invest in the market,” said Keating, who grew up in Atkinson, Nebraska, about a 2 1/2 hour drive from metro Sioux City. “The plan for the property will be a catalyst for growth in North Sioux City.”

Keating said more details will be released upon the closing, including the purchase price paid to Acer Inc., the Taiwan-based computer maker that inherited the North Sioux City campus when it acquired Gateway's consumer division for $710 million in 2007.

At the time of the sale, Acer said it did not want to be a landlord. Instead, the company put the property on the market, with the goal of leasing back the approximate 20,000 square feet of space that houses its servers and a handful of workers that maintain the network.

Realtors listed the campus for $15 million. The value of the land alone has been estimated at between $5 million and $7 million.

Gateway’s former offices and manufacturing and warehouse space were built in the 1990s after the PC maker moved across the Big Sioux River from Sergeant Bluff to North Sioux City. The The exteriors of the five large metal, machine shed-like buildings -- named Main, Mexico, Pacific, Peru and Argentina – were painted black and white to resemble the spots on the Holstein cows featured in Gateway’s quirky ads.

Keating Resources, which has offices in Atkinson, Nebraska and Naples, Florida, specializes in buying large vacant properties throughout the United States and repositioning the parcels for the future, Gerald Keating said.

Since 1996, Keating, individually, and with partners, has purchased over $300 million in real estate in the agriculture, industrial, retail, office, mining, port terminals, and rail terminals, according to the company’s website, www.keatingresources.com.

Keating said existing leases in the former Gateway building will be honored. At last report, FIMCO, a North Sioux City-based manufacturer of agricultural equipment, occupies about 144,00 square feet in the former Peru building.

In May, Alorica closed its call center in the Argentina building, eliminating 260 jobs. The Chino, California-based contract services company had leased about 100,000 square feet on the first floor.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story misspelled Gerard Keating's first name.